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The Church vs. Facebook
Log on with caution: The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has warned that Facebook and MySpace may cause teenagers to commit suicide. Social networking, he says, forces teens to form “transient relationships,” which leaves them unequipped to cope with friends in the real world. “Among young people often a key factor in them committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships,” the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols said. His warnings come after a 15-year-old girl overdosed on painkillers after being bullied on the social networking site Bebo. Nichols said the social networking sites—along with cell phones—were “dehumanizing” community life, and that teenagers “throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they’re desolate.”
squiggy
The church of England fights the evil cyber community while offering "what?" to the kids there? My sons, particularly the younger one, have finally figured out the world is real, not a game with replay of levels without consequences and they are beginning to appreciate, particularly the older one, that life is not rife with snipers, fast destructive cars and all. Somewhat of a let down, needing the adrenaline but the economy is keeping them busy and thinking. Innovation. If we kill this in our kids we are lost. What is the Church doing about it?
Hawnzz
It is the Church who wants to keep us from thinking, growing, changing, dare I say "evolving" as a society. (Evolve simply means or adapt to a changing environment, there is an irony there but I won't grind that one.) They want control and repression. When I say repression, do not take that a evil... it just is.
estcruzer
I wonder how many child suicides the church is responsible for?
sonofloud
I would just like to warn teenagers that churches spread ignorance, hate, and intolerance.
Hawnzz
Ouch, truth hurts worse then a knife.
bedstuypunk
Churches are good on Sunday morning and that's it...
Go on with your life after that short boost of Moral Uplifter
Downriver
The Church is a thousand times more likely and prolific catalyst of suicide than any social networking site .
Hawnzz
Tssssszzz....... the zinger burns!
bedstuypunk
Not sure about "catalyst of suicide"
but if you are a young boy, a place where your "Anal Cherry" could be popped
Hawnzz
That isn't quite fair. That is a not part of the church, it's a cancer that has been allowed to fester. What was allowed to continue was criminal. The fact that it was done by the church only makes it 100 times worse.
There are hundreds of thousands of wonderful people who got stuck with the stigma, just because of the actions of a small number of rotten people. And that ain't fair...
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Hawnzz
Ok, I'll give you that one. I've always wondered that too.
estcruzer
Let's just say that the church declaring that facebook and myspace may cause child suicides is like the very dirty pot calling the very shiny kettle black.
bedstuypunk
Did this archbishop ever try using FaceBook?
I know what my friends are doing, I know what cool events are coming up!
How is this dehumanizing community life?
Isn't reading the same book (bible), bashing on innovative success more dehumanizing?
sparky13
The problem with the catholic curch is:
The church dosen't want their futile pholosophy diluted !
The more people one speaks with, with differing philosophies, the more one realizes that, that "GOD" shit is rediculous !
When one perpetrates a lie, one needs to be found out !
I support Facebook.
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nortonclybourn
It's not fair to judge all Catholic clergy that way, any more than it would be to call all Republicans subliterate war criminals because G W Bush is one.
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sparky13
@ nortonclybourn
Repugnacans ARE sub-literate in Oklahoma.
As a matter of fact, almost ALL people in Oklahoma are sub-literate !
drevilo
TDoff2:
You are a hateful bastard. No doubt there were, and are, bad priests in the Catholic church. However your condemnation and horrible descriptive posts do nothing but help the dolts out there in your "warped society" dig in deeper. You undoubtly are the cause of many probems on Facebook and MySpace. Teens like you need to wise up.
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nortonclybourn
TDoff2 is old-school KKK, spewing hatred and calumny against Catholics and Jews alike. You may have missed his theory that Jews are purchasing the foreskins of gentiles (for 10,000 shekels) as a way of getting free bus passes. If he believes in anything or anyone, I have not yet detected it. I hope he's just a curious throwback and not representative of much of anybody else.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
jerrymus
I was not aware that this never happened to teenagers before. I had always thought for 2000 years that some people when adversity occurred they saw no way out and would attempt suicide.
marinersarenumber1
Contrary to the cautionary tale being foisted by the Catholic Church in England, both teens and adults can find a positive refuge in the social construct offered by Facebook. For some, the face-to-face confrontations that are exacted in this world can be very compelling. Social networking sites such as Facebook often play out as sheltered arenas to converse with like minds, including those who you wish to chat with, and exclude those who threaten and impune. It's not a perfect medium, but it does provide a venue that can sustain and encourage those who are seeking personalized interaction. Maybe the church just doesn't like the competition - you're supposed to be in Sunday School and not on Facebook.
JD92840
Oh here we go again with the Catholic Church dictating what is right and wrong, hell they hide pedophile priests left and right, and this is right?
Give me a damn break!
Abolish the Catholic Church!!!
periscope
The Catholic Church has been more often a force for damage to human beings than a force for good. They do do a lot of helpful charitable work with the poor and they do offer people solace from their fears, but too often the price is senseless guilt about sin, politicizing abortion and the pedophile problem, which is global.
Rational411
I wonder if Nichols realizes that cathedrals are designed to be dehumanizing and the church has been the biggest bully in the history western civilization.
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